I, Hussein
by Michael Maiello

I'm going to try and be Saddam Hussein, to see things from his perspective on the eve of what might be Gulf War II, what might be a few air raids, or what might be a bunch of tension culminating in nothing. I'm going to try on the hat and green jumpsuit for a whole column. Here it goes, an experiment from freshman acting class...

Okay, the facts. I'm the leader of Iraq and I've been screwed with by the rest of the world. The British redefined our boundaries, which is why Kuwait, which was our territory is now a puny little kingdom in our backyard. They've got some oil, which used to be our oil, until the British redrew the boundaries. I don't much like the British.

The Soviets used to be allies. Kind of. I still have a lot of their military equipment. I have a lot of United States equipment too. They tried to make a puppet government out of Iran and it didn't work. Iran used to be part of Persia, and I think Iraq should rule former Persia. What's wrong with a little manifest destiny on my part? The U.S. were pretty friendly when I was leading a war against Iran.

By the way, I never had the fourth largest army in the world. I'm not sure why people believed that. The United States, China, Russia, Britain, Iraq? Doesn't make sense. There are probably countries in South America with larger armies. Or at least, more powerful armies. In this age of mass destruction, the number of soldiers means less than the technology available. It's propaganda -- I'm really not all that powerful.

The U.S. figured I'd be ousted by my own people after the Gulf War. They never learn. Sanctions against Cuba actually strengthened Castro, and they strengthened me. My people know who is starving them to death, who is bullying them, breaching their sovereignty, treating them like less than people. It's the United States, and the United Nations.

It's ridiculous that I should be the target of sanctions and global scorn. Sure my human rights record is weak by western standards. But China hasn't been all that kind to the people of Tibet and they enjoy free trade with the United States and a seat on the U.N. security council. Let's face it, the U.N. is just a device for powerful countries to pick on the weak in the name of high minded causes. It's a country club for nuclear powers and their laws are enforced against the weak, and ignored in favor of the strong. That's historical fact, my friends.

Of course I want weapons of mass destruction. Aren't weapons how the powerful came to rule? I'm their target because I threaten their order. But these weapons have to do with scientific knowledge and you can't write treaties against that. The ability to split an atom is an ability shared by all mankind. How long do the super powers think they will remain the only super powers? Are they so arrogant to think only they are crafty enough to build such devices?

The United States turned on me in that arrogance. One year, I'm their best hope for revenge against Iran after the fall of their Shah, then they attack me over a matter of internal politics in the middle east. But in the Gulf War they divided the Arab world by fear. Made me into the next Hitler and painted a picture of me rolling tanks into Saudi Arabia. They tricked my brothers into taking up arms against me, helping the U.S. at every turn.

Times have changed. Even the Saudis can only be turned against other Arab nations for so long. The Russians are wary, and have grown tired of playing a second power since the end of the cold war. Yeltsin has issued a warning to Clinton. Perhaps the rest of the world is tired of watching the U.S. play global policeman, sucking up power and influence with every military action.

So, they might attack. If I give in, I look like a coward and my political opponents will sense the weakness. If I stand up, we take more bombs, an attack we can't adequately repel. But my people will see who their enemy is, and they will love me more for trying. And maybe, just maybe, a few American casualties, POW's placed at bomb sites, the pictures filling their TV sets, will turn the U.S. people against the war. I may not win, but I can make them hurt.

I didn't create this situation. I didn't draw the artificial borders in the middle east, I didn't have a say in creating the United Nations. Nations have done far more than ours, and suffered far less. The United States has been a friend and a foe. Without them, I may not have been able to fight Iran to a stalemate, and would never have amassed the army they say is the fourth largest in the world.

I can't say I blame my opponents. They have their agendas. To remain in power, easy access to middle eastern oil, to flex their muscle. Were I in their position, I would do the same. I would crush every upstart who would threaten my status. But it's funny they dehumanize me so, and mask their actions in rhetoric of high morality, when all they want is to maintain power.

I don't know what will happen. The bombs may drop. The U.S. may act alone and the world might practically ignore it. They might act alone and there might be consequences. I do know this-- if we fight, we fight on even moral grounds. We are, after all, all just motivated by the acquisition and protection of power.

Michael Maiello is preparing his one-man play for a showing in a distictive venue along First Avenue in New York City.

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